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California enacts UELMA, Guaranteeing Free & Authenticated Access to State Legal Materials

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On September 13th, 2012, California Governor Brown signed SB1075 into law, enacting the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act in California (UELMA).

From Law Librarian listserv:

SB1075 provides that the California Constitution, the state statutes, and the California codes will be authentic and permanently available online to the citizens of California.   The bill, sponsored by the Senate Committee on Rules, leaves open the option to include additional categories of material through amendment and it establishes that the Legislative Counsel Bureau is the official publisher.

This is a major achievement for California law librarians advocating for the cause of free and authenticated access to our state’s legal materials.

California is now the second state, after Colorado, to pass UELMA since it was approved in July 2011.  In 2013, a number of states, including Nevada and Utah, are considering introducing it in their legislatures.

Read more about the Uniform Electronic Legal Materials Act at the Uniform Law Commission website:

Electronic Legal Material Act

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